Ascension: Vol II
by perrilloux.bf68
Summary: She was saved, found by a family teaching her what it means to trust, but what happens when that trust is tried? A killer is on the loose and with him comes dreams and nightmares, memories of a life that Seras thought she had buried. Now, as her past begins to make his move, how can she protect her new family as they are pulled into her world of dark shadows? One word. Run. [46up]
1. Chapter Forty One: Into Beginnings

**Ascension**

**Chapter Forty One**

**Prologue: A Sunday in March, Into Beginnings**

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_Disclaimer: Though the plotline is mine, the rest isn't. I don't own anything belonging within the Inuyasha, Hellsing, Twilight, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Black Butler, Wolf's Rain, Baccano, Princess Mononoke, Lion King, or any other universes that may pop up in this next group of chapters. For a complete universe (eh?) list, please drop me a line. I'll try to name them all._

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A Sunday in March

I'd tell you the day. I'd tell you the time, but that is all irrelevant. Not now that my life, this unending road on which I've walked for so long, is unraveling before my eyes. It feels like the end is near; that, or from what I've agreed, the beginning of an unending slavery to a woman born to hate us and a cause I could believe in if I wasn't labeled its foe. Yet currently, it's the better of two evils. It's buying us time, futile, vain, limited time.

The dragon is angry. I have never seen her so desperate, but taking into account everything that has happened in the past three days, four if you include the disaster which was Wednesday, I can understand where she is coming from. Everyone else is scared. Well, some of us. Jasper has grown harder by the day as have Emmett. And Edward? He is nearly in separable from Bella, but that's not surprising given her injury from the battle. Still, the girls... Esme's light is diminishing. She keeps looking at the house mumbling, wishing, praying if that were even possible. She refuses any comfort, even from me.

We are to leave everything behind. Our new employer has insured us that our possessions will be gathered and stored until the case is solved and the danger has past. But like the dragon, I hold no illusions of what will inevitably come from this. Our fates lie either with them, or with Aro. Neither are happy. I have seen what they have done to the man in red. That pentagram wrings my heart in fear and loathing. What he has done to Seras wrings my heart…

Seras, Miss. Victoria, it's been three weeks since we've met, and she is nothing short of a daughter to me. But still... My coven. My family, loyal to the very venom in their veins, has yet to utter the one thought that keeps stabbing my own heart and mind. Regardless, I would be surprised if they hadn't thought it also in passing. If we hadn't met her, the girl, the dragon, this Lady General, we probably wouldn't be in this situation. But Alice's insight, every time my thoughts lean to despair or regret, rings true to question my doubts. Are we indeed on the right side? I don't understand any of this. It's like we've been dropped into a different world. Yet even as I sit here writing this, keeping an account of everything that has happened up to this point, something inside of me keeps pulling me, insuring me that we are…

That we are.

The truth has yet to be seen. We have only to move forward seeing the time fade with the day and it's warm. The night approaches fast and with it our parting. I will continue once we board the plane…


	2. Chapter Forty Two: Out of Bed

**Ascension**

**Chapter Forty Two:**

**Out of Bed**

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The frog was chubby, slimy like the snot currently dangling from his nose. Takashi snuffled then hurried to pull a Kleenex from his pocket. Attempting with fumbling fingers, he tried to untangle the enormous wad before the next sneeze thundered through the woods. He failed. The frog hopped, the sneeze came, and the trees shook. He scrunched his head into the lapels of his trench coat and shivered. In spite of his cold, the sun was brilliant in its rising, the temperature almost deceiving in its morning climate. 60-70 degrees, it was almost spring. He nearly smiled… nearly, not quite.

Wiping his nose, Takashi shoved the contaminated bundle back into the pocket of his coat, while simultaneously he eyed the lump of blubber hopping its fat self back towards the tree line. A smirk instantly split across his face as one almost clawed burly stout hand pushed through black shoulder length hair. It draped around a thick corded neck. An idea spread, a thought well remembered, and a frog quickly vanished.

Inside, the house was quiet. The floor didn't squeak under his boots, nor did the stairs. He was impressed to say the least, but the wolf didn't say anything. He just grinned and pushed down the bobbing bubbling bulge in his left pocket. Reaching the second floor, he paused and lifted his nose. He sniffed smelling smoke, smelling decay, smelling slumber. His grin widened. His success tasted pleasant now that it was just in reach, just down the hall 10 steps, 15 steps away.

Silently, stealthily, he turned listening to the soft shuffling of the people found in the house locked behind doors he didn't care about in beds he couldn't see. But he could smell them, could figure their locations. Perhaps, he should have cared. In hindsight, he figured he should have, but it didn't make much of a difference then. He chuckled. It didn't make much of a difference now. He'd get what he wanted.

Half way there, a door cracked open. A nose peaked out, ruffled hair splintered, suspicious eyes narrowed even while an eyebrow popped. Takashi froze, his hand once again pushing down at a bubble, at a bulge that wouldn't keep still. His smile faltered slightly. His brows surged once, twice before his blue eyes tilted towards the office as his smirk grew brighter. The soldier could only stare back uncertainly. He crossed his arms and frowned.

Takashi shrugged ignoring him. He turned back towards the office silently shuffling towards the closed panel aware that the soldier was watching his every move. Reaching it, he pocketed his hand, his fingers wrapping around slime and fidgeting. He smiled and pushed open the door.

The first thing he noticed was the vampire staring at him. He looked like he had caught him in the middle of doing some paperwork. Carlisle's right hand was curled around a pen, the other around a small notebook. He lifted his head catching the wolf's eyes. When they sparked with mischief, his eyebrow quickly continued the movement. Slowly, he sat up and leaned back in his chair. He folded his arms to which Takashi merely beamed. Silently, he lifted out the frog and pointed slyly at the lump of tangled wings and blankets cluttered upon the ridiculously tiny little sofa.

Carlisle's other eyebrow quickly joined its brother before lowering to gather in confusion. Still, he stayed silent, slightly curious, slightly wary. Seras just rolled over until her back was towards her friend.

Takashi edged around the coffee table that now wobbled as he stepped upon the floor boards. He tried not to wince at the thought of how that happened. Instead, he lifted a booted toe and non-too-gently prodded the padded behind on display before him.

The body rocked and groaned. His smile widened. "Hey," he said softly.

Again, the body groaned. He tried not to snicker. He nudged it again. "Hey! Lazy ass!"

Seras moaned.

Takashi nudged. "It's time to train."

The dragon just rolled to her stomach, her black hair flailing everywhere and nowhere in the process.

Takashi snickered. "Hey!"

"Tell Lord Boa Constrictor I'm not going…. hmmmm, I'm tired." She mumbled lifting a blanket over her head. Well… attempted to lift it over her head. When it didn't budge, she just grabbed a wing instead. Her nose twitched. It wasn't as warm.

"You know, only you would be able to get away with calling him that." Takashi frowned. "And no, you know the drill," he said fiddling with the frog. "Up early, bed late, I get to kick your ass, while you get to—"

"Drilling is for wood, and I don't have any nails." She turned to her side, her head burrowing into the pillow, her face scrunched in ruined peace.

Takashi's face scrunched in mock confusion before he shook his head. Silently, he crouched to the balls of his feet bending his knees until he was face to face with the dragon, his friend, his sister, his personal slave of pranks and torture. His smile turned dark. His eyebrows wavered.

Carlisle watched silently, absently noting Jasper watching his door from the hallway. Jasper perked a brow. Carlisle shrugged. The wolf nudged the dragon.

"Oi!"

"Errrr…"

"Oi, Seras."

She rolled over until she was on her back. Her eyes squinted before she put a creamy tanned arm over them. She grimaced. _Why do I feel like I've been hit by a truck? _Before she could remember boulder, and tree, and fist to abdomen, sleep reared up and claimed its favorite victim. Instantly, she was out. The only words that filtered through to Takashi's hearing was "dumb truck" and "arsgggazzzzz…"

He sniggered, then caught himself. If his tail was out, it would have been wagging and knocking everything over with more energy than a rabbit on Viagra. Still, he just briefly prodded her again, a different idea taking shape. "Seras," he said softly changing his tone, one from humorous to slightly upset.

Automatically, Seras crinkled her eyebrows. She grunted.

"The prince," he explained lifting the frog over her chest. His tail rapped under his ring. His smile widened. "He… um had another nightmare."

Seras muttered something about cats and bitches. Her hands covered her eyes. Carlisle sighed. Takashi just edged closer. "He um… He wants to, you know, come in."

Seras exhaled, her wings twitching as she turned back over. "What is it with dogs and files?"

"Piles. You mean piles." Takashi couldn't help himself, he sniggered. "Well, you know the brat, he loves being with you. Come on imp, he's scared." He shook the frog slightly. Its legs dangled. Its croaker expanded. It just blinked looking vaguely at the vampire, whose smile was beginning to bud.

A blanket lifted. Jasper edged to the door and Seras groaned. "Ok," she said, "but this has got to stop. He's like 200 years old. He's getting too big to be sleeping with me…."

"Well," Takashi muttered gently laying the frog near her arms, "that's canines for you."

Seras snorted and attempted to wrap her arms around slime, fat and blubber that wiggled and ballooned in her grasp. It was too small. Her eyebrows coiled as in sleep she attempted to put one and two together. When she got five, she promptly gave up and cracked open an eye lid lowering a sleep hazed golden iris to two bulging buggy eyes. They blinked, hers blinked, and then she screamed.

Her screech rattled the floor boards, the walls, and each finely tuned eardrum from the third floor all the way to the basement. While a number of people groaned in acute pain, Bella being one of them, three in particular were too busy laughing upon seeing the fiery, hot-tempered, sometimes overly serious dragon clutching for dear life the wolf. He just calmly rose to his feet carrying with him wings, horns and one long scaly tail wrapped tightly around him shaking in complete and utter fear—um alarm.

"Kill it," Seras wailed pointing at the thing now hopping lethargically on the couch. "Kill it—kill it—kill it."

Takashi stumbled as she squirmed in his grasp. His laughter descended into a deep, well satisfied chuckle. "Oh come now, it's only a little frog."

"It's slimy with no tail or scales and mucus everywhere and its tongue has that-that thing." She shivered. "They're like mutilated lizards. Reptile but all wrong." She whimpered hiding her face in his neck.

"You know, what's wrong—"

"Takashi, I know you're not my guard anymore," she said without realizing who was watching. "But really, I order you to kill that," she pointed vaguely behind her, "that—" Her tail tightened, her arms did too, her hands fidgeting near his…

His smile shifted changing into something a little less mocking. Again, he spoke—quietly, this time. "You know what's wrong?" He whispered in her ear, his hands rising to comb through her hair.

Seras hummed.

He smiled before purring into her ear. "Your tail wrapped around my…"

Instantly, Seras was on her feet a safe far (very very far) distance away from the wolf with her face set and her hands brushing off her borrowed hoodie.

Takashi chuckled watching her from watery eyes. It melded perfectly well with the other two voices still hackling around the room. He picked up the tilted, wobbly coffee table then walked around it pointedly watching the frog bounce around on the sofa.

"Takashi that was low," she growled. She purposely avoided looking at the other two watching them in the room. A lightly colored blush spread across her cheeks.

Takashi merely snorted. "What's wrong, Seras, big bad dragon afraid of a little tadpole?" He picked up the frog by the foot and waved it at her.

Seras frowned. "No," she defended… or attempted to. She abruptly stopped finding the warty thing tossed deliberately at her. She squealed and back clumsily away into a chest—a cold one at that.

She paused, the frog bouncing on her toes, and looked up. Carlisle, from his place behind her, caught her eye and smiled. Her blush deepened. She stammered. But not before he hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek. "Good Morning," he greeted softly before walking around her to gather up the frog.

Seras shivered and then wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. Takashi perked an eyebrow. Jasper quickly calmed down crossing his arms.

"Now, you two," The doctor scolded softly. Rising with the frog in his hands, he petted its head for a moment, his eyes watching it squirm underneath his cold fingers. He gripped it gently. "I don't mind you rough housing, but I'd really appreciate it if it didn't happen in my office." he pointedly looked at the coffee table and then at the wolf. Once again, the magazines were everywhere.

Takashi's smile was sheepish, slightly—nope, not sheepish at all. He briskly ran a hand through his hair and fixed his coat. "Look," he said gruffly. "Didn't mean to barge in, I was only havin' a little fun." Again, his tail swayed unknown to all, but the dragon knew guilty when she saw it. She'd seen it too many times to count. The wolf cleared his throat before his demeanor promptly shifted. His eyes aimed pointedly back towards the girl, who inched slightly behind the doctor.

Carlisle looked back at her as did Jasper. The frog croaked tiredly.

"Besides, she knows better," The wolf said. "Training. Now."

Seras rolled her eyes before she crossed her arms gesturing at her sweats and hoodie. Her tail, which was dragging on the floor, tapped impatiently.

Takashi narrowed his eyes. "I've been waiting since dawn, and you aren't even dressed yet!" He growled before stalking towards the door. "You've got ten minutes before I drag you out."

Seras's eyes' followed him glaring. "You do realize that no one runs by the position of the sun any more don't you?"

Takashi merely snorted before clapping the soldier on the back. "You can come too, you know. I bet you're dying to eat dirt."

Jasper glared, his eyes shifting from the dragon to Carlisle then to the wolf. Again, the frog croaked and Carlisle's hand tightened more firmly around its squirming body. Jasper sighed. "It's Jazz, if you don't mind, and what kind of training do you do?"

He turned and followed the wolf down the hall.

Takashi shrugged, "It's all pranks and torture. Nothing too strenuous."

Seras watched them before childishly sticking her tongue out at his back.

Carlisle watched her then laughed. "Here," he said securing the frog. "Let me take care of this while you pick up the room." When Seras started to pout and protest, two well practiced, well manicured eyebrows raised in such a way that it instantly caused the predicted action of blushing and stammering to occur. Seeing her huff then bend to start picking up the magazines, he nodded and walked towards the door. "Good," he said. "I'll be back to help."

In seconds, he was gone. In less than that, he was back empty of frog in exchange for jeans, a white t-shirt, and a jacket. He was aiming to lay them on the coffee table and let her change in his office. He, though, wasn't expecting to find her with her back to the door pulling out a full silver liquor flask from the inside of her shirt. He frowned and crossed his arms. At least, the floor was clean. "Where did you get that?"

Seras froze and blinked back at him, her golden eyes wide, her creamy skin slightly flushed from earlier, her horns barely sticking out from long black hair caressing a soft face lined with a crescent moon and jagged stripes. She smiled sheepishly. It almost mirrored the wolf's, almost not - nope, it was exactly the same. "Ah," she said untwisting the cap, "Takashi gave it to me."

Carlisle narrowed his eyes at the lie. He lifted an eyebrow.

She rolled hers lifting the bottle and shaking it. "I'm a dragon remember. Stealing is sort of in the…" she brought the opening to her lips, "genetic code." She took a sip.

Carlisle's gaze smoldered in disapproval. "Is drinking at nine in the morning also on that list?" he asked sarcastically. He was expecting another snide comment, a blush, a rattled off excuse. He wasn't quite expecting the way her eyes suddenly unfocused or her hand flew to her mouth. Still, he had seen that look enough times to instantly remember exactly what followed it. In the words of the dragon, 'He was a doctor, remember?'

Instantly, Seras's cheeks, flushed from her adventure with the frog, drained of their color, and then it was her and not him racing down the hallway towards the bathroom and the toilet. The open flask, however, unexpectedly sailed from her hands to bounce haphazardly into the doctor's left, right, then both hands. The clothes fell to the floor along with a drizzle of green… something. He sniffed then sighed. Whatever it was quickly stained the carpet beneath his feet.

While the bathroom door slammed shut, a pale hand rose to cover his face. _I really need to get these two out of my office_, he thought before a soft clearing of a throat interrupted him. Absently closing the cap and using the jeans to mop up some of the spilt juice, he looked up to find his wife watching him. She leaned against the door jam with a slight smile on her face. It was crinkled with concern and amusement.

Esme tilted her head. "I think I saw your youngest race for the restroom," she stated softly.

Carlisle snorted then straightened. "Of that, I am well aware," he said. "I will check on her in a moment."

His wife eyed the stain, the flask, and the jeans covered in green… her nose scrunched. "And I'm not sure Alice would appreciate having her jeans used as a mop," she said vaguely.

For a second, Carlisle just blinked looking down at the ruin fabric. Immediately, he groaned upon realizing what he had done. It was habit, plain and simple. After centuries of surgeries, centuries of dealing with a gambit of body fluids spilling, leaking, staining everything and anything, it was just old hat to wipe it up with the nearest object, which often times was his shirt or jacket he'd later dump in the hospital's dirty clothes. Carlisle tiredly closed his eyes, the grinding sounds of Esme laughing and the dragon puking pleasantly sailing into his ears.

Esme watched the man deflate before walking forward smiling knowingly. Carlisle opened his eyes and watched her approach him. Without realizing it, her smile transferred to his lips tugging them slightly from the left. In moments, he sighed and in moments, she was in his arms looking up at him with that smile. The one she only gave to him. He tightened his arms, the jeans crumpling in his grasp tangling with satin metal while he leaned in to give her a kiss.

"Oh my god! What- Oh. I'm… I'm sorry. I—"

He paused. His gaze pivoted to the door.

Alice stood there her hand over her eyes, her weight shifting nervously from foot to foot. "I heard something about ruined clothes and my name." She spoke quickly, perhaps too quickly. A golden brown eye peaked through scrawny fingers eyeing the slightly stunned couple. "I was just." They zeroed in on the jeans, and then her hands were on her hips. "Dad!" she groaned. "Really, you are worse than she is." She stormed up to the shocked pair and pried the coarse fabric from his hands.

Esme laughed while Carlisle blinked and stuttered. "Well, um… I'm sorry, Alice. I didn't—wait. You didn't see the accident before it happened?" His brows lowered even while the girl, his girl, looked away.

"Ah," she said between giggles. They were more fake than actual hilarity. "I must have missed that. I wasn't really paying attention." She edged to the door watching her parents' careful observation tense and increase with their worry. She too crinkled her nose. "Let me just."

"Alice." Carlisle began to speak straightening his spine. He didn't know exactly what else he would have said, but his concern was on his lips, the words just beginning to form, when suddenly a door slammed open. He found blazing eyes, tangled hair and even longer horns barge into the room long enough for him to feel the sharp flask rip from his grasp. The words "The dog's dead" sailed in the wake of the storm that was marching itself down his hallway.

He blinked, Esme blinked, finding that somewhere in the confusion Alice had also vanished back into her room door shut, like her heart.

Sighing, Esme looked up at her bewildered husband and smiled sadly. "You know. You did say you wanted a big family."

Carlisle blinked down at her. "I did?" he asked. After a moment, he closed his eyes then nodded. "I did." He admitted.

Esme chuckled. She leaned in to kiss him. "Don't worry, Dr. Cullen. Things will settle."

The doctor looked at her a moment before returning the kiss. "I sure hope so, Esme." He sighed thinking forward to what the day could bring, could possibly ruin. He pulled her close and wrapped uncertain arms around her. "I sure hope so."

He was about to kiss her neck, lower his caressing hands to other places when a voice and a gasp interrupted the moment. Carlisle froze and together he and his wife turned wide accepting eyes towards the door where another of his children stood with his hands over his eyes. Carlisle smirked, in spite of himself. "Edward?" he prodded.

Edward merely exhaled then lowered his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" he paused. Carlisle nodded. Esme stepped aside. "Ah, there is currently World War III occurring in our living room."

Carlisle nodded. He could hear it.

"Hey!" The three turned and looked behind the boy at Bella, who just stared at them from over his shoulder. "Ah, do you know why there is toilet paper littering the bathroom floor?"

Edward's sigh deepened, "Maybe you'd want to…"

"I'll be right down." Carlisle's shoulders slouched as he pecked his wife on the lips. He turned then to follow his son out the door. Esme followed right behind them. Six words pulled at his mind, _What have I gotten myself into?_


	3. Chapter Forty Three: Into the Game

"Hey, Emmett," she said.

"Yeah, Cous'?" he answered cautiously.

"Do you know how to play _Monkey in the Middle_?"

His smirk was vicious.

Pranks and torture lead to lists and plans, points cleverly hidden and well taught.

Welcome to the locker room.

* * *

**Ascension: Vol II**

**Chapter Forty Three**

**Into the Game**

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"What is this?!" Seras demanded. Her left hand propped up the silver flask. Her toe tapped a sharp impromptu cadence as her right fist crushed the satin lapels of one incredibly ugly brown trench coat. She jerked the smirking wolf to stare eye to eye with her. It was one of those days, she thought. One of those days where she wished her human form had more height to it just so she could glare at him properly. But since that wasn't the case, Seras made sure to make up for her lack of height with enthusiasm and contempt. Currently, it wasn't working.

The wolf merely scoffed. "Come on, dragon! Anyone can see that it's a liquor flask-ah!"

Seras tugged him closer and growled. He whined sharply. She lifted the bottle and shoved it into his face. "I know what this is," she said, "but what is this?!" She unscrewed the cap with her teeth and rammed the opening into one of his unsuspecting nostrils.

Takashi smiled, in spite of his shiver. "Why, Seras, you can't smell the—" He whined again, her fingers now seizing his ear. It twisted. Under his seal, his tail stuck straight out. His fur stood on painful end. "Shit," he squealed. "Fuck! It's wheat germ. Wheat germ, grass, and—"

Seras cut him off with a snarl, her eyes darkening. "You poisoned me!"

"No, that's—damn!"

"I'm a carnivore, canine. I can't drink this shit."

Again, Takashi scoffed flailing his arms so he could break contact with the dragon. He crossed them vaguely feeling his elbows nudge the pommel of his sword. That was also hidden within the seal. "Well, if your thieving skills were up to par, it wouldn't be an issue. Would it? You would have realized that it wasn't the only–better yet! If you didn't steal in the first place—"

Seras put her hands on her hips and shoved her nose into his personal space. "Fuck off! Where is it?"

Takashi, not once alarmed by the number of spectators beginning to surround them, slowly lowered his arms before leaning forward pushing the dragon back.

Her leg buckled before she lunged and bared sharp teeth.

His smirk darkened. "You know what? I am a cop, bitch. I should just arrest your smart aleck ass."

Seras pushed back, her eyebrows lowering, her growl deepening. "Is that a threat?" she asked.

His smile widened. "No," he purred. "But this is…"

This is where Carlisle stepped in. This is where he arrived to find the two standing in the aisle between the kitchen and the living room with their foreheads touching, their teeth bared and eyes blazing. He would have said something, was about to say something, but then before his eyes he watched as a blue energy began to grow from amidst the wolf. It danced tightly around his body, his clothes now billowing in wind he couldn't feel. It popped and snapped while the clearly drawn lines of his lighting licked the air around him. Carlisle froze astonished, but then the dragon, seeing the threat, pushed back.

Jasper eyed her from his place in the living room, his gaze searching, calculating as he stood looking on. Instinctively, he stepped back seeing Seras' long hair also begin to billow, to rise and tangle in the air while her dark energy ignited around her.

Her teeth lengthened. Her eyes narrowed. She strove to step forward, but the wolf didn't budge. He just laughed boosting his power tenfold.

Emmett grinned from the balcony, his hands gripping tightly the narrow grey banister. Earlier, he had heard the puking and hadn't reacted. When he heard the fight though, he stuck a curious nose outside of his door, his wife hesitantly following. Now that he was out standing next to her, next to his adoptive father, he could naught but be grateful for his sense of inquisitiveness. He would have missed this awesome—

_…disaster_, Esme thought. The paintings were shaking, the lamps were rattling, and the curtains were going everywhere. She put her hands on her hips, her lips pursing tightly. What was with these two and tearing up her home? She growled and shouted Seras' name.

Seras ignored her. Well… in all fairness, she couldn't hear her. She could only hear the subtle crackle of her fire, dark and eerie, as she allowed it to grow crimson, to flare against the wolf's energy. Her flame was back. She smiled, the corners of her soft lips spread very, very slowly across her face. It felt sublime.

It was the smile, Edward thought, the flames dark and gruesome. She was—this was a sign. Didn't anyone see it? A demon! The title was truly fitting and she— He took a step back and subtly grabbed Bella's wrist, but enticed as she was, she firmly pulled away. Bella stepped forward her eyes wide like Alice's, like Rosalie's, like Seras' even while they began to glow crimson covering her pupils and irises alike.

But then, she stopped.

Seras blinked. Her flame vanished, and she pocketed the flask before promptly pulling out a small brown cardboard tube. Her smile turned curiously wicked.

Confused, Takashi slouched letting his own power simmer, cease all together with a bewildered pop. His eyes briskly locked onto the tiny cylinder now dancing in front of him. He huffed and crossed his arms. He sniffed it subtly… no, he didn't sniff it at all. "What the hell are you doing?"

A fang peaked from between two plump lips before they pursed. A whistle twittered into the sudden silence. Takashi's eyebrow twitched.

"Here puppy, puppy!" Seras cooed in a high voice. "Here puppy, puppy! Does puppy want to play?" She wiggled the tube, and Takashi frowned gritting his teeth. A tail flicked.

"I'm not a dog."

"Here puppy, puppy! Awe, puppy is depressed, but mommy can make it better."

In spite of herself, Bella began to snicker watching amusedly as the wolf spied the tube through his lashes.

"Seras—"

"Here schnookums!" The dragon skirted around him edging enthusiastically towards the front door.

Takashi growled while he turned to watch her open it. He sneered. "Don't you even know what you look like?"

"Like an idiot," Rosalie answered for him.

Nearly everybody rolled their eyes.

Seras just whistled and pushed the door open a little wider. She wiggled the tube towards Takashi watching the way his lip curled. She smiled and then pointed at it. "Hey, Takashi!"

He grunted. "Keh! Don't even—"

"Fetch!" The tube sailed and bounced across the lawn. The wolf tapped a finger. Time ticked on and…

… and

… and nothing happened.

Seras sighed.

He tapped it again.

"Seras Victoria," Esme scolded through pursed lips. "Did you seriously throw a toilet paper tube out of my front door?"

"Ah?" Tap. Seras looked back at her and smiled guiltily. "Yes… Yes, I did."

Jasper rolled his eyes, his pupils sailing towards the ceiling. "And ya actually thought the wolf would go after it?" He looked down at her watching as she slowly backed up and shrugged.

"Well…" she hedged. Tap. Tap. "It was the goal. I'd heard from a friend that she did this once with a dog—" She paused and blinked upon feeling something wiz pass her. She blinked again then turned towards the door suddenly finding a six-foot wolf staring down at her with a small brown hollow tube in his mouth. His exposed tail wagged happily behind him. He whined and edged forward. She looked up then promptly burst out into laughter. "Really!" she squealed. "Ha ha! Oh my god, you actually…" She trailed off her giggles causing her to double over, her body quaking from her hilarity. "You fetched it!"

"Seras," Carlisle scolded pinching the bridge of his nose, "was that really necessary?"

"Yes," she snickered, "yes, it was. I've been dying to do that since last January when Kago—" She snorted and fell on the floor. Her tail thudded heavily upon the naked oak. The sound, however, was enough of a jolt to knock the instinct out of the wolf and snap him back into conscious thinking. He lowered smoldering eyes before placing clenched fists on his hips. His growing smile revealed pointed fangs, strong jaws tightening so that they instantly snapped the paper tube in half. Its pieces fell like autumn leaves dead, dying, and dull around the dragon squirming uncontrollably at his feet. He snarled lowly while a number of well aware vampires took two highly alarmed steps back, a few crouching in defense.

"Seras," Takashi growled knowing that she could hear him.

"Yeah," she muttered between laughs. When nothing else was spoken, eventually she looked up then promptly stopped. She gulped. Her tail squirmed. "Oh! Come on," she whined softly. "It's not that big of a—" Suddenly, a hand was fisted in her hoodie before she was jerked to her toes looking straight into narrowed blue eyes, but not suddenly enough that she didn't grab another tube.

Takashi's lip protruded while she merely wagged it in front of him. He eyed it and growled. "Throw it again. I dare you."

Seras' smirk was vicious, even though she couldn't touch the floor with her toes. She laughed, "Why certainly!" She raised her hand, to the chagrin of many, and promptly chucked the half tube out the door. It bounced and almost instantly Takashi followed leaving Seras to fall into an undignified heap on the floor.

Her laughter was softer than before, less debilitating. She slowly got to her feet and proceeded to straighten her clothes aware that the wolf was outside slowly prying the tube from his mouth. What she wasn't quite ready for was the way Carlisle snapped her name… and his fingers.

She froze and looked up at him, then pouted before tapping her toe. Her eyebrows popped into her hairline. "Come on! You too?!" She put her hands on her hips instantly forgetting about the wolf. "He is allowed to put a frog in my bed and poisoning me with that… that... that while I'm—" She caught Esme crossing her arms. She pointed at her feet prompting Seras to look down. The flask was now on the floor spilling its questionable contents all over the newly cleaned hardwood panels. She smiled then gulped sheepishly. She must have dropped it somewhere in the mayhem. She sighed and lowered her head.

In spite of the rising tension, Emmett snickered. "Geeze, Cous', I thought I was a trouble magnet, but you are well on your way to replacing—ow!" He coughed and choked feeling his wife elbow him in the ribs. He merely laughed and kissed her. She huffed.

Seras slouched and made to find a dish towel in the kitchen.

"No!" Esme snapped. "You'll get the mop in the basement and proceed to mop not only that but the rest of the floors in the house."

"Wait!" Seras blinked. "But!" How did she—

"No buts!" Carlisle answered putting his hands on his hips aware that the rest of the household was relaxing now that the danger had passed. Well everyone but two. Jasper took another step back as did Edward. "And afterwards, you can also take the time to pick up the toilet pap—"

"Hold it!" Seras yelled suddenly. "Don't mention—"

"Too late."

She started then instantly felt a shadow pour over her shoulders, one shocked limb at a time. Carlisle's eyes widened while Esme just froze. Bella's hands flew to her mouth watching as Seras swallowed and slowly looked up at the wolf. She only had a moment, a second, less than that to catch the spark in his eye. It glinted before she suddenly felt a rock like fist slam into her back breaking sharply through hoodie, through t-shirt, flesh and blood that squelched, through bones that snapped as they broke. She whimpered slightly feeling his fist burst through her chest jerking her body forward. She stumbled.

"Seras!" Bella cried out ready to book to her, but Edward, thinking only of her, of her protection and nothing more, grabbed his wife from behind. She kicked. She screamed, but Seras couldn't see anything.

Her shoulders were heaving, her eyes wide, her head cocked sickeningly to the left. Shuttering, she attempted to turn, whispers falling from her lips like forgotten feathers. "T-takashi, what have you…"

He only huffed once more jerking her forward. He growled. "Will you quit fooling around?" he snapped.

She squealed, her skin turning deathly white, deathly pale. Thin, it quivered like the last petal plucked from a daisy. She brought a hand to her mouth unaware of the golden eyes staring at her.

Carlisle couldn't move, couldn't think. Esme whimpered, and he barely heard it.

Seras coughed, and Takashi gritted his teeth feeling her body begin to shift and unravel. Slowly, his growl curled around the room caressing everything and nothing while suddenly a piece of white tissue paper erupted from Seras' mouth. She coughed again and two more flew.

In spite his alarm, Jasper furrowed his eyebrows, his thoughts adding and subtracting, figuring silently while the wolf merely sneered. "You people are hopeless," he said.

"What do you mean?" Emmett snapped, his fists clenching tightly. He was shaking, though he didn't know if it was out of anger or grief. Bella was wailing in Edward's arms. He scrunched his nose hearing her.

Her body was crumbling in his grasp. He could feel it. Disgusted, the wolf slowly pulled his fist from her chest feeling her insides shift and loosen unstably. He snorted, "Didn't you hear anything I said last night?" Gently, he backed away watching as Seras stumbled to her feet. Unsteadily, she took two steps and then collapsed, her body deflating into nothing more than toilet paper and beige towels. "Youkai illusions are extremely strong." He fished a clean hand into his pockets looking for his—feeling nothing but satin lining, his eyebrow twitched. He snarled, "Seras, that was cruel."

"Not as cruel as you putting your fist through my chest, Geeze." A voice muttered between tempered breaths. The Cullens froze before a few of them leaned out of the balcony looking up toward the third floor. Carlisle stepped down to the first, his head raised high in his search. "You gave me like no time."

Takashi snorted, subtly eyeing the man. His nose crinkled, "As if you needed it."

Seras merely grunted before crossing her arms. From her place standing on the narrow banister, she could see everything: the wolf, the soldier, the doc—she faltered at the slight anger in his eyes. Still, she stood straighter. Her hair down and full, she was dressed in jeans, a white shirt and a black jean jacket big enough to hide her wings but not so much that she couldn't move. She smirked.

Takashi scowled pointing down at the pile of fluff at his feet. "Toilet paper, really?"

Seras rolled her eyes, "I'm not that dumb. I'm already mopping floors because of you. Why would I fill my doppelgänger with something else that could make it worse?" She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand tasting toothpaste. "God, that was awful."

"Not as awful as the dirt you'll be tasting when you get down here."

"Which is now!" Carlisle scolded.

Takashi sneered, "And where is my sake?"

Seras jumped down landing clumsily before Carlisle. Finding her balance, with his assistance, she sighed retrieving the now empty bottle from a front pocket. Stepping forward, she gave it back to the wolf absently aware of the eyes staring at her, the sniffles coming from the second floor. She sighed. "You alright up there?" she called looking back. "I'm okay, pup. It wasn't real."

Bella, squirming out of Edward's hesitant grasp, stumbled forward looking down at the dragon. Her golden-rimmed eyes filled with worry. In seconds, Esme and Emmett flanked her, Alice also. Slowly, she frowned. "Yeah," she muttered, "I just wasn't ready for that."

Seras exhaled before looking away. "You shouldn't worry. Believe me, it takes more than that to kill me. Isn't that right, Beta?"

"Regardless, you shouldn't—"

"Beta!?" Takashi exclaimed. He wiggled the flask hearing nothing but air swish inside. He growled promptly interrupting the doctor to his amusement. He was getting annoying. "You haven't beaten me yet drag—ugh." In seconds, he was on his back doused in green… something while starring up at the ceiling and a pointed smile.

Seras' cheeks dimpled slightly. "What was that puppy?"

Takashi narrowed his eyes raising his hands to clutch her toe. "For the last time, I'm a wolf!" he snapped promptly twisting it in a maneuver to knock her off balance. Unluckily for him, it didn't work. Somehow, he blinked and found himself on his stomach once again feeling stocking feet pinning him to the floor. How? He didn't know. He just put his head on his fist and flicked his tail. He scowled.

"Submit?" Seras asked quite happy with herself.

"Is this revenge for the boulder?"

She simply added enough pressure to slam his face into the floor and hummed.

He grumbled then tilted his head.

"No-no-no, say it," Seras cooed.

Takashi growled. "I'm not going to…" He lifted his head just long enough to have his face smashed back into the floorboards. He twitched his nose.

Seras smiled leading the charge. "I am…"

"Alpha."

"You are?"

"Beta," Takashi's eyebrow twitched hearing snickers begin to fill the room.

Still, Seras ignored them. "I can…"

"Do whatever you please."

"And you can…"

"Lay here and suffer apparently." His tail went limp as he sighed.

Seras merely shook her head. "Nope." Her smile widened.

"No?"

She crouched over him resting her elbows on her knees while plunging ferreting fingers into his coat pockets. "You get to pay the money you owe me," she cooed. Pulling his wallet out, deftly she flipped it open and extracted the wad of cash inside before dropping the leather pouch on his back.

Instantly, Takashi's head snapped up. "Hey! Wait a minute!"

Seras ignored him, stepping off of his person while silently counting the money.

"I don't owe you anything."

"That is a lie," Seras murmured softly, not once looking his way. She lifted a brow at him, though.

He got to his feet. "How?"

"Well, you owe me $500 from what you 'borrowed' last April for your wife's birthday party."

"Keh!"

"Then, don't forget the $250 you owe me for the bet you just lost."

"What bet, bitch?" Takashi glared.

Seras promptly stopped and looked at him. "The one where you said, and I quote, 'I bet you $750 that the next time I'm Alpha, I'll keep the title until the end of the week.'" She snorted. "You didn't last a day, and I'm short. You still owe me $150."

If Takashi had his wolf ears, they would have drooped. "That was all of my paycheck!" He grabbed his wallet from the floor and opened it watching absolutely nothing fall out. He whined.

"Come on, Tsume," Seras said watching carefully where he stashed it in his upper left pocket, "you have like dozens times that stored in a bank somewhere."

"Yeah, for a bigger house," Takashi sneered.

Seras sneered right back. "Uh uh, and so what's $750?" She snapped the cash into Carlisle's chest. "Damages," she explained. "You're more stingy than I am."

Takashi huffed and crossed his arms. "You're not stingy just broke."

Seras froze.

"You're broke!" Emmett whined from the stairs. "What do you mean she's broke?"

"Ah!" Seras stalled.

Takashi just smiled, "It's exactly what I said. She's poorer than the trees outside."

"Not true!" Seras snapped, pointing a finger at his nose. "I just… I have cash stashed somewhere."

"Oh?" Takashi asked stepping back, his smile twisting cockily. "And where exactly is it?"

"It's…" Seras stuttered. "It's…." she crossed her arms. "It's somewhere, I just don't…"

"You lost it?" Rosalie asked sarcastically.

"Ah… well." Seras hedged.

"Your money management skills need improvement," Carlisle noted, more to himself than for anyone else's benefit. For the Cullens, however, it was enough of a warning. He gathered the money and calmly handed the wad back to the wolf. He accepted it gladly. "But that's just one task on a long list of tasks needing improvement by you."

Seras blinked and looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Carlisle returned her gaze with a stare that made her slightly uncomfortable. "Do you really need an example?" he asked. The question was rhetorical. He ploughed on without so much a pause to allow her to ramble. He just put a hand on his hip. "For instance—" Abruptly, he reached over and snatched her ear.

She whimpered, not unlike the wolf had done moments before. "OW! What—" It twisted and she crouched over in pain. "Fuck!"

"Language," Carlisle reminded calmly, "drinking, gambling, stealing—"

"But st-stealing is part of the training and drinking is good for my st—ow! Shi-man! MAN! Yes, I get it! No cursing!"

Carlisle merely raised a stern eyebrow only to be interrupted by the wolf's howling laughter. Emmet would have joined him if it wasn't for the fact that he'd spent his own time on Carlisle's Needs Improvement  
List. So, he stayed wisely quiet to the relief of many standing around him.

Takashi quickly calmed down. "She's right, though," he explained. "It teaches speed and for her it's instinctual."

"I don't care," Carlisle stated plainly. He looked down at her. "We do not steal in this household. Do I make myself clear?"

Seras blinked staring up into his golden eyes at the golden hair combed neatly back, the well tailored clothes clean and wrinkle free. She nodded quickly, mutely.

Carlisle smiled—briefly. "Wonderful! Now," he instructed. "You will apologize and—"

"I'm not apologizing to that good for nothing—ow! Sorry. I'm sorry!" She squealed, one eye closing.

"And you'll return everything you've taken from him in the past 10 minutes."

Seras pouted, "I gave him everything…" She trailed off seeing the eyebrow rise higher before her. Her eyes widened. Takashi chuckled. This was almost too comical. "You saw that?!"

The doctor pursed his lips. "I didn't have too," he stated. "Give them back now, please."

Seras glowered and puffed her cheeks snatching her ear out of his hand. "Fine," she muttered pulling from her pockets cigarettes, gum, loose change, a paper clip, used Kleenex that she hadn't meant to pilfer but had mistakenly taken in her rush, a pencil and piece of half eaten dog bone putting each item into the eager, except for the Kleenex, hand of her friend. He merely smirked shuffling them back into their appropriate locations. It was when his hand was fully submerged and hers in the process of removing the last item from her own jacket that Jasper caught the change in the atmosphere. The light hearted amusement sharpened, twisted, melded into something more sinister.

In less than a second, less than an instant, her hand snapped out along with his holding pistols pointing at each other's faces. In that second, in that instant, they hardened and deadened, their eyes cold, calculating and intent in their focus.

He crouched while Carlisle just stepped away not prepared for the sudden change. The safety was removed. A wolfish smirk spread across thin lips revealing long sharp fangs, a reminder of his status, of their race. Seras just narrowed her eyes, her face hard. Her hair dangled freely down her back resting messily behind pointed ears red from pulling, caressing high cheek bones scarred with vicious stripes.

"You stole my gun," the wolf stated calmly.

Seras hummed.

"…then moved my remaining gun to a different pocket." He scrunched his nose, his tail swaying, his eyes glinting darkly. "But not before," he balanced the pistol judging its weight. "Yeah, not before removing the bullets I believe."

She just watched him.

Takashi's smirk grew into a smile. It was genuine and pure, a rarity for him. "Your sense of humor never ceases to astound me."

"It's not humor," Seras explained. She inched the gun higher, closer to his skull. She cocked it. Hers was fully loaded. Hers was undoubtedly deadly, ready like her for an opportunity, for a reason. "I'm just proving a point."

"Oh? And what is that?" Takashi sneered. His own pointed ears twitched with the movement. His slicked back hair shifted also. "That you're a criminal in every sense of the word?"

"I'm not a criminal," she argued. "I just take advantage of the skills I have and have acquired for my own purposes. I know my duty. I haven't broken it."

"Of that, I have no doubt." The wolf rolled his eyes and lowered the gun shifting his weight. Though a few Cullens relaxed, Seras didn't move. Takashi lifted a hand. "Come on, imp. Hand it over." His fingers curled beckoning her.

Still, she didn't budge. Seras lifted an eyebrow. "And what if I don't? This is a new gun. I'm kind a becoming partial to it."

The wolf crossed his arms, his eyes sparking. "You like it? It's a new issue, .454 Casull caliber, ranges about 100 feet. It could take down a bear demon in one shot."

Seras crinkled her eyebrows lowering the gun, fidgeting with its assembly. Pulling out the magazine, she noted the number of silver bullets. One of her brows raised to which Takashi only responded in silence. She sighed. _I guess we'll talk about it later_.

"You into firearms, soldier?"

Jasper straightened being addressed. He watched as the dragon flipped the gun and handed it handle first to the wolf. He crossed his arms. "I used to be at one time. I don't own any at the moment." Takashi raised an eyebrow before throwing him his empty pistol. Silently, he put the other away to the relief of many.

Jasper took his time looking over the weapon appreciating its craftsmanship. "This is well made," he noted. In moments, he was flanked by Emmett, who eagerly took the pistol from his hand.

"It would be," Takashi explained putting his hands in his pockets. "Its youkai made and fitting to take one of us down. I have another just like it that I'm selling if you want."

"I would buy it!" Seras stated a little too perkily. She smiled. Fully fanged, it was slightly wild, border line maniacal. "May I buy it?"

"No!"

Seras blinked, not quite understanding why everyone had said that at once. She pouted.

Takashi snorted, "And with what money?"

"Well," she expounded. "You do owe me $700. I said that."

"And it's not true," Carlisle argued. "You gave the money to me, and I gave it to him. By rules of exchange that money now belongs to Tsume, where it should have stayed in the first place."

Seras slouched not wanting to argue anything further.

The wolf only huffed, "Besides, you have a pistol." At her continued silence, his eyebrows lowered. "Or you had a pistol. Where is it?"

Seras brought a finger to her chin and smiled sheepishly. Takashi's eyebrows twitched.

"Do you remember the volcano I explored last summer?"

He slapped a hand over his forehead. He couldn't help it. It was practically an involuntary response. "You melted it?!"

"Ah!"

"That was a $3,000 gun!" The wolf's hand draped disbelieving fingers across his face.

In turn, Carlisle exhaled. That also needed improvement.

Jasper tossed back the gun which Takashi caught instantly and pocketed. His not-so-muttered, highly impolite murmurs crescendo to a snapped order. "Training! Outside! Now!"

Seras groaned. "But I disarmed you and beated you. Wasn't that enough? I'm still hurting from yesterday."

"It's defeated," Carlisle said interrupting the wolf. "It's either that or you can get started on the mopping."

"I'm all for that," Esme mumbled. She was still peeved that the puddle was still soaking the floor.

Seras sighed and began to walk away. "I'll take the mopping, Mrs. Cullens—"

"Na uh!" Takashi objected. He reached out his hand.

Seras froze and raised an eyebrow.

He shook his head. "Not the mopping. Give me the rest."

"Rest?" Carlisle asked staring down at her.

Seras twitched her nose.

"I told you," he explained, "she's a born thief, and this is a well known trick of hers. She'll steal a number of things; get caught only to distract you from her true goal. While you're fussing over everything else, you never see the other item vanish." Again, his fingers curled. "Give it back, imp."

Seras's lip pouted. Still, Jasper wasn't fooled. Something clicked. She was about to argue, but one look from Carlisle nipped that in the bud. She sighed and put a resigned hand in her back pocket pulling out a small blue flip phone. "You mean this?" she asked waving it.

"Yes," Takashi muttered. "Hand it over."

Seras's smile widened. "No," she said.

It was Takashi's turn to pout. "What was that?"

"I said, 'No!'" she said matter-of-factly. "Meaning to say, I have another idea. You want to train and they," she pointed to the group, "ain't doing n0thin'."

"Isn't," Carlisle corrected.

Seras groaned. "We should get them in on it."

Takashi's eyebrows dipped suspiciously. Eventually, he spoke. "No," he said.

"I say, 'Yes.' I'm Alpha."

Takashi growled stepping forward. "Give it back," he threatened.

"No," Seras stated. She stepped back.

"Give it back, now!"

She shook her head, her smile broadening. Takashi's growl kicked up a notch. She waved the phone watching him stare at it.

"Hey, Emmett!" she said.

"Yeah, Cous'?" he answered cautiously.

"Do you know how to play _Monkey in the Middle_?"

His smirk was vicious.

She stepped back. Takashi followed. "Don't even."

Seras smiled and lifted her hand with the phone dangling from her fingers. "Takashi! Fetch!"

She chucked it.

On cue, Emmett caught it and raced out the door only just barely catching the wolf tackle the dragon into the toilet paper. They didn't stay that way for long for while Seras lay dazed, giggling in the fluff, Takashi quickly rebounded to his feet and booked after the vampire, his tail disappearing through the door.

Seras, calming down, looked up to find a hand offered to her. Knowing what it meant, she gingerly grabbed hold before finding herself propelled to her feet. The momentum briefly took her breath away.

Jasper watched her and crossed his arms. "So was that your main goal?" he asked suspiciously. He looked outside at the rising sun. It was one of those rare Washington days. Those days where the sun was brilliant, and his clan was hindered from their usual day-to-day activities due to their luminescence. Normally, they'd be hunting, but today... He looked away. Today was different.

Seras turned away from Carlisle gracefully retrieving her hand from his fingers. She nodded. "Yeah, if I have to suffer, you can too."

"No one else is mopping for you," Esme interrupted moving to gather the toilet paper and the towels. She went upstairs talking quietly to herself clearly upset.

Seras sighed deflating a little. Apparently, she was serious. "Yes, I understand."

"So... are we still playing?" Bella asked trailing downstairs. Edward followed instantly, his gaze uncharacteristically open. It made Seras narrow her eyes, but before she could ponder the expression, she suddenly felt something cold grasp her arm. "You're okay, aren't you?"

Seras looked down at the pup and smiled. "Yes, he didn't hurt me," she confirmed.

"That's a relief," Rosalie muttered. "We'd probably never hear the end of it." She rolled her eyes.

Alice sighed, "She does have a point." When everyone just looked at her, she smiled apologetically but not apologetically enough. If she was human, she would have blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean that." She blinked and slinked down the stairs instantly finding Jasper. He embraced her and whispered into her ear. She nodded quietly.

Carlisle looked down at the little spitfire in front of him and crossed his arms. "So, what's the plan?"

Seras looked up at him and then promptly smiled. It made him slightly nervous, but the feeling quickly ebbed away as she spelled out her strategy plan listening and tweaking it according to suggestions offered by the group, by Jasper mostly. At the end of a fast five minutes, everything was set except for one thing. He crinkled his eyebrows pondering it while Bella voiced his objection. "So, what are you going to do?"

Seras predictably smiled. She was about to open her mouth when suddenly a bucket and a mop was dropped ominously by her feet. She stopped and looked up at his wife, who had retrieved it from the basement during their huddling session.

Carlisle tried to hide a knowing smile along with a number of others in his coven.

Seras merely sighed and grabbed the blue plastic handle. "Apparently, I'm mopping," she said. A part from the laughter, it was the last thing that was said as the team immediately dispersed.


	4. Chapter Forty Four: Out of Succession

"Why are you here?"

"Did you have a falling out?"

Questions lead to answers, to confessions and speculation, but what does Seras do when her stubbornness is met by a rival? The doctor is patient. The doctor is kind, but he also has a desire that could change her future. If only, if only.

* * *

**Ascension: Vol II**

**Chapter Forty Four:**

**Out of Succession**

* * *

He found the mop first, moments later, a half an hour later, lying on the floor. Its head was in its bucket slouched over the dipper lipped rim like hair in a barber's basin. Its handle stuck out awkwardly angled in such a way that he was amazed it hadn't tipped over. In reality, it was a relief, a major one he was sure to never admit, out loud at least. A hallway full of suds and water was not high on his wish list, especially since his wife was only just downstairs. Esme was once again preparing another meal for his two rowdy houseguests who'd effectively taken over their home in the last 24 hours. He, on the other hand, was on the second floor meandering into his office pondering a partially mopped floor and a window left uncharacteristically open. The dragon was missing but not unfindable.

Cautiously, Carlisle leaned through the open space hidden behind his desk clothed in simple fabric. He smelt smoke as the white cotton billowed around him. It was a beautiful day. With the sun out and the breeze dancing, it felt like summer though it was only March, spring at its earliest and most tender. He smiled anticipating the warmth that was yet to come. It was sure to blossom, to grow and shine like the morning light.

Looking up, his sure golden eyes spied the winding ribbon of smoke drifting down from his flattened roof. The doctor scrunched his nose as with cautious steps he climbed out of the window shimming up the rustic brick of his home. She was found sitting in the sun her back to him. Her hair was still unbound and hung messily about her shoulders, the spiky strands caressing the foggy air around her. The sun cloaked her like a blanket. The smoke erupted suspiciously from what seem to be her lips. He guessed they were wrapped around a stolen cigarette. In a few seconds, he would discover that he was correct, but in that moment, he focused mainly on her hair draped over one shoulder, her left knee bent casually, her head draped down as she pondered something in her hand at which she was staring intently. He tucked his hands in his pockets and walked around her spying the cigarette. In spite of himself, he snorted. Another improvement was added to his list.

"They grow up so fast don't they?" she murmured softly feeling him sit down beside her.

"Who?" he asked in return. Casually, he pushed up his sleeves, let his arms rest on his pent up knees. He leaned over peering down at the wallet she was cradling. That must have been the real goal. The doctor gazed at the picture of a small girl smiling up at him. His eyebrows crinkled. He leaned in closer. "Are those?" She had ears, pointed furry dog ears, poking out of messy chocolate brown ringlets. They looked…

"Yeah, they're real. She's a hanyou." She handed him the wallet.

His fingers held it gingerly, flipping casually through the little photo album in the center. "She gets bigger every year," Seras commented. "Soon, she'll be bigger than me." She sighed then leaned back until she was lying fully in the sun around her. She stretched enjoying the heat. "Takashi met her mother nearly 100 years ago, a human, and married. They had Katrina a year later. He's never been happier."

"They seem happy." He flipped a picture looking at one taken during the 1920s and another that seemed rather recent. The human hadn't aged. His brows dipped deeper, the resulting ripple blemishing his smooth pearl like skin. "How did she handle learning about what he is though?"

Seras bit her lip staring up into the clouds. The bright light made her squint, made him glow. "I wasn't there when it happened," she admitted slowly. "We'd parted ways and I was preoccupied at the time, but from what I hear she accepted it brilliantly," like the sun. "It was a big surprise for him," she said seeing in her mind's eye the memory he had shown her at one time. The discovery. The smile. His throbbing heart. She chewed on her cigarette. "It was that instant acceptance that caused him to make his decision. I'm glad he found his happiness."

"Did you have a falling out?" Carlisle asked closing the wallet. He put it down before looking back at her suddenly realizing that he couldn't smell cigarettes, just smoke in general. Curious, he eyed the stick then snatched it from her lips. At her pout, he shook his head. He fingered the cold unlit thing a moment before returning it with a perked eyebrow.

Seras twitched her nose snatching it back. "What?" she asked. "It's the sake." When his eyebrow inched higher, she rolled her eyes. They glinted in the sunlight. "I told you it's good for my stomach," she said watching the rising smoke sputter with the movement, "I have to breathe out the excess smoke when it burns too hot. I figured it was best to do it here and not upset Esme any further. She'd probably never forgive me if I did it in the house."

"That's highly unlikely," Carlisle offered with a smile. The skin around his lashes crinkled softly. "She's already making you lunch although she might not be all that happy finding your work half done."

Again, Seras rolled her eyes. "I did the third floor first," she stated. At his cautious silence, her pout deepened. "I did. Honest. I'm not lying."

Gradually, Carlisle allowed his smile to stretch wider. "I'm guessing, I'll have to take your word for it." Watching her snort and roll over until her back was facing his side, he spoke again. "You didn't answer my question."

Seras sighed.

"Did you have a falling out? Esme said you were fighting yesterday."

She pulled the stick from her mouth allowing the opaque tendrils to curl in the sun. "It's a beautiful lie," she said. "The cigarette. I can use it to effectively hide what I am. An everyday item can have such unassuming power."

It was Carlisle's turn to sigh. She stared at the cigarette, counting the white spots on the tawny end. Perhaps, she didn't want to talk about it. Still, she proved him wrong.

"He," she began slowly. Carlisle stilled. "We had a disagreement of sorts. Actually," she mumbled putting the stick back in her mouth. "We are still having it. He wanted to stay with me as I travelled, but…" She trailed off. "Eventually, we parted ways, once before they met and finally sometime after Katrina's birth. I've been on my own ever since. It's not a terrible thing, and I couldn't on clear conscience keep him away. His family needed him." Seras shrugged, the story flaking off with the movement.

Carlisle tilted his head, his voice soft with concern. He hadn't missed it, that underlying intonation that told him she was lying. "How long have you been traveling?" The parting may have been mutual, but perhaps… perhaps, it wasn't.

She didn't answer. Instead, she changed the subject. Seras looked back at him. "Why are you here?" she asked suddenly.

He blinked not necessarily expecting the abrupt divergence, but then again, it didn't surprise him. He looked away shifting to get more comfortable. "What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"The game," Seras expounded. She nodded towards the forest.

Instantly, Carlisle's mouth opened in a wide circle. He smirked. "I figure the group didn't need me since someone didn't assign me too much to do." When her face only twisted in a guilty caught-red handed type of way, he chuckled softly. "Hmm… I guess, I was right then in assuming you did that on purpose."

Seras froze then looked away trying, and failing, to act casual in light of his revelation.

Carlisle watched her silently. "I think," he observed further, "that Jasper also figured out what you were doing by the end." Seras swallowed. "It was why he was so vocal in his suggestions."

Eventually, the dragon nodded wordlessly confirming his suspicions. Her eyebrows lowered, her expression softening. "I wanted to give them tools," she said after a moment. She pocketed the cigarette. Carlisle crinkled his eyebrows. "Ideas, strategies on fighting your enemies in case something went wrong tonight. I didn't want to leave them unprepared, which is why your role and mine were wheedled out of the game while I used Takashi as a target. It relieves me," she rubbed her nose, "that Jasper caught on to the purpose. He'll be able to tweak it and add to it as needed. He has a mind for strategy. He's quiet, but…." Her words stuttered as her mind wandered.

Carlisle merely nodded. "That he is," he agreed. "He was a Major in the Confederate Army before he was changed and after that he helped lead one of the southern vampire militias during their days of war. He's had a hard upbringing before Alice came into his life. Though our way of living is miles from what he came from, he hasn't lost that edge to him. He'll always be a soldier, I think. He has softened, though, as the years have progressed. I've seen it."

Seras was quiet a moment thinking. "Is he your successor?"

Carlisle looked back at her unaware that her mind was focused on the sounds of the others playing, of their feet beating the earth, their shouts mixing with laughter and discussion. He heard them, but she memorized, analyzed, evaluated.

"In all honesty," he admitted, "I hadn't even considered it until recently."

Seras crinkled her eyebrows looking towards the north. Jasper caught the phone after Emmett tossed it to him just as he was tackled from behind. The wolf grunted. Emmett only chuckled. "Only recently?" she asked.

Carlisle shrugged. "I hadn't the need."

"But now?"

Jasper booked left through the trees running back towards the house, circling wide as he searched for a cue, some sign that he was—he just barely spied it before a howl broke through the trees. A phone flew, but he vanished as the wolf charged after him now 30 feet tall, stout with fur and stiff muscle, with brawn that was fast and impenetrable yet unaware. Jasper smiled.

Takashi turned the bend ignoring the leaves and branches whipping his face. He growled, his nose raised, teeth bared. He found the menace, that stupid soldier who—he whined. A squeal raced through the forest as feminine hands grasped onto his fur, another set clawing at his neck and pulling him down into the mud and snow. He had a moment, only that, to shake them off, Rosalie and Alice. Still, he saw him, the boy Edward, pass out of the Meadow with the phone in hand. He lost Jasper. Takashi snarled and chased after him.

"I've given it some thought," he admitted. The doctor took a breath. "Jasper would be a good candidate and is one. He has the leadership skills and the know how to act wisely in situations that would call for diplomacy."

"But you have reservations."

Jasper broke through the trees spying his mate and sister-in-law. Seeing they were okay, together they turned finding Bella and Emmett walking into the clearing. Jasper looked up. Bella nodded and left while Emmett sauntered up to the other three. They conversed. Then in moments they all left, a chuckle flittering from the brute's mouth, rippling happily in mischievous amusement.

Carlisle nodded, the sun making him squint. "It's less about what he lacks as it is about my consideration of the others. Emmett is too boyish for my tastes, though he has a good heart. He is an excellent fighter, but he lacks what is needed I think. The same goes with Rosalie. You haven't witnessed it. She's been civil lately, but she can be ruled by her contempt for others, which hinders her ability to judge impartially. Esme's a leader, but she isn't a fighter. She's the softest out of all of us and has already denied the position."

Seras nodded.

"The thing is," Carlisle murmured. "If I did pass, her grief alone would make her unfit. Our kind do not overcome the loss of our mates so easily. It's just one of those…" He narrowed his eyes and exhaled. He shook his head moving on. "Alice's ability is strong, and she has the talent for bringing out the good in others. She also has a wisdom to her that I have yet to see in someone else. She is a candidate."

"But she is not who you are thinking of," Seras observed. She could hear him, the one he had yet to mention. Edward was darting through the forest faster than the rest, fast enough to make Takashi breathe heavily and push his speed. The only one who seemed to match him was his wife. Bella appeared suddenly beside him whispering softly while they ran. Then, she booked left. Takashi paused looking at both of them trying to figure which way to go. He sniffed the air then promptly booked after the girl forgetting only partially the boy and the others.

"Bella is too young. The only one that is a true rival for Jasper for my place leaves only one person." The doctor gazed off into the distance.

"Edward."

Carlisle nodded. He thought back to his son's revelations and arguments the night prior. "Edward," he confirmed. "In spite everything that has happened in the last few days, I know the boy has a good heart. He leads unlike the others." He thought back to how easily it was for him to convince the family to leave Bella nearly two years prior. "He has a knack for persuading others to do as he wishes, and it helps, his gift. He is protective of those he considers family and also has a mind to question things. That cautiousness will ensure my family's safety."

"But it's a double-edged sword, that cautiousness and over protectiveness." She heard him chase through the woods following the startled trail of a lion… no, a bear. "He doesn't trust easily."

"No," Carlisle admitted.

"And he's young."

The doctor shook his head. "That's the thing. In spite all of his qualities and weaknesses, he has one thing going for him that would knock Jasper from the running." He tapped his hands together. "He's my first turned. Propriety would state that my mantle of leadership should automatically fall to him. I'm sure he feels entitled to it by default. If I choose someone else, I worry how he would take it, what the decision could ignite."

"Is he that power hungry?" Seras asked uncertainly.

Carlisle paused, his mind in deep thought. "No," he stated plainly, honestly. "At least, not right now, but power can change a person. It's something to consider."

Seras nodded knowing he was right.

"Just like the possibility that what I have established might disintegrate upon my demise. That also should be considered. My kind," Carlisle explained, "we aren't known to stay in large covens like this. It's not the norm. So, I can't help but wonder if something so devastating would end up dispersing us. In the end, I am by no means the glue for my family. I don't really know what has kept us together for so long, but the bond exists. I just don't know how strong it is, or what it can withstand. I want to be realistic."

"I see," Seras murmured. She sat up slightly, rolling over so her head could rest on her fist, so she could see him better.

Carlisle looked back at her slightly curious. "You disagree?" he asked.

Seras shook her head. "It's not that. Your considerations are valid. I just think that your group, here, are stronger than you think." She could see it. She didn't need to hear Takashi's disbelieving whine as he followed the pup up the wooded steep hill, to hear his gasp and his feet come to a sudden stop as the girl jumped into the trees just as one deer, no thirty, five lions and a bear began to hurdle down the slope aimed directly at him. He turned and ran the herd of animals chasing expressly after him, the laughing vampires chasing after them. She smiled. "I don't think you're legacy will die with you, and they…" at the crest they paused: the pup, the beauty, the boy, the soldier, the seer and the brute. They stood looking down the hillside. She could see it easily. "They won't part from it. They will stand with it as long as they are able." She blinked. "But then again, I am no psychic. The future could be something else entirely."

"I believe you're right," Carlisle answered. He looked back at her with a kind of a smile growing across his face.

Seras hesitated seeing it.

"There's also you to consider."


	5. Chapter Forty Five: Out of the Mask

**She was different than she was when he first saw her.**  
Different than what she portrayed for the others to see.

**Dressed in black, cloaked from head to toe in Asian silk;  
**Wrapped in white, in red doused in the blood of demons;

**Somewhere, a part of him recognized the danger that just waltzed through his door.  
**For the first time since he'd met her, her focus was no longer on him, but on something else, someone else.

The hanyou pocketed fingers that caressed and played, manipulated a small pouch before pulling it out under the careful stare of hallow dark eyes.

**The boy took a step back, his eyes watching the dragon as she stalked to his shelves, a finger running along the edges of his records, his cassettes, his CDs, his… **

**Her voice halted him.  
**Her scent assailed him.

**"You are afraid of me."**

* * *

**Ascension, Vol. II**

**Chapter Forty Five:**

**Out of the Mask**

* * *

_"There's also you to consider."_

She should have swallowed. She should have blinked or bit her lip or licked them, wetted them twice over really, if they weren't interrupted. _There is also you to consider. _In hindsight, it was a relief, the disruption, the slightly angered voice breaking through the moment, shattering its delicate core with welcomed distraction. Like the grating sounds of an unexpected jack hammer, the voice was annoying, slightly alarming in its sudden presence. But in light of the situation, it was a release, an unplanned but well appreciated fire drill before the start of an exam or some other unpleasant testing that grated on the nerves. Seras took a breath then let it out. With laden pupils, she eyed the doctor. His smile turned way too knowing for her tastes and so she scowled. The dragon, she—

"Bitch," Takashi snarled.

_There is also you to consider. _

She broke eye contact with the doctor, but not before he caught the slight twitch of a charcoal grey eyebrow, the subtle dipping of a pale pink lip. Seras growled back. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" She shuffled to her feet stalking to the edge of the roof so she could stare, or rather glower, down at the wolf huddled beneath her. She tried not to laugh at his torn and sweaty clothes, his ruffed up tangled hair sticking out in various asymmetrical angles. She failed to say the least. A snicker escaped and his pupils darkened marginally.

"After what you put me through, I have the right to call you whatever bloody hell I please."

"As if! What did I ever do to you?" She crossed her arms aware of Carlisle rising to his feet behind her. He casually ambled over, his hands in his pockets, his face twisted in slight curiosity. He too looked over the side. Seeing him, Takashi briefly nodded then smirked. It came and went in less than a millisecond. Still, Seras saw it and so did Carlisle. Takashi smirking was worse than him smiling. Seras lowered her eyebrows in suspicion. The doctor? He just folded his arms. The dragon frowned.

_There is also you to consider. _

He put a pinky in his ear and twisted. "Oh, I don't know," the wolf whined, "sent a stampede to run me down, sicced half a dozen vampires after me and managed to single-handedly destroy my cell phone."

For a minute, her face deadpanned then slowly (very slowly) she grimaced. "You mean the one with _his_ number in it? You aren't going to tell him. Are you?" Her voice was small (very, very small).

Takashi's eyebrow perked as his lips twisted into a distinctly wolfish kind of frown. He padded the outside of a coat pocket. "You stole it didn't you?"

"Yeah… well. Oh, come on!" She slouched. Her lip protruded into a very desperate looking kind of pout. "You know what he'll do. I'll be doing paperwork until my eyes bleed and then he'll force me to pay for the replacement, which is ridiculous. The man's richer than fuc..." she trailed off subtly catching a certain look flitter across Carlisle's face. She swallowed then cleared her throat. "Anyway—akum—you know what."

The wolf burst into laughter.

Again, her eyebrow twitched.

"They really made you do it. Didn't they?" He wrapped his arms around his side. "The great and powerful Seras Victoria reduced to mopping floors." He snickered. "I'm so telling the dog the next time he calls. He'll never believe it."

In spite her annoyance (great annoyance), Seras cinched her eyebrows in confusion. She tapped a foot. "But how can you call? You said—"

"Hey!" A voice shouted. "Where did you go?"

"And how did you get here?"

Carlisle wanted to ask the same thing. He'd also heard the stampede.

The three turned watching the others stumble out of the woods. The cold angry face on Rosalie said everything. The doctor sighed. "What happened?"

"The stupid wolf vanished in the middle of the stampede!" she snapped.

"But not before herding them towards Beaver." Edward growled as he stalked towards the back door, his thoughts lingering on the small neighboring village. The door slammed shut behind them both.

Jasper tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. He paused on his way towards the door eyeing the concerned patriarch. "We had to herd them back before they ran through Main Street."

"It was great!" Bella keened. "I ran so fast and the rush was amazing."

Jasper rolled his eyes but Seras, Emmett and Alice only laughed.

"We caught them in time, but right now there is a really ticked off bear walking around at the moment." Emmett sniggered moving to walk pass them.

But Alice halted him. "Actually," she grimaced.

The brute blinked pausing mid-step. His eyes popped. "You ate it?!"

"Well… I was hungry."

"She was hungry."

Both Alice and Jasper shrugged. They wrapped an arm around each other and walked into the house. Emmett followed. The others smiled and chuckled.

Bella turned to the wolf. "I have your phone," she said softly.

Takashi looked down at her and scoffed. "You only think that you have my phone," he revealed.

Bella blinked up at him before digging through her pockets pulling out a cigarette packet and not the phone she swore she retrieved during the game. Her mouth opened and closed as she stammered trying to figure out the switch.

Takashi snorted watching her. He snatched the broken box and peered inside. "She took them all didn't she? One. Five."

"Who?"

"Who do you think?" He eyed the dragon, who only huffed and looked away. He growled. "What is this? Half of them are missing."

"It was half empty to start with, jerk. I only took on and how did I crush your phone?"

His nose twitched. "You didn't," he admitted putting the cigarettes away. He would have one later. "I lied. Now, give me my wallet so I can get more smokes, thief."

Seras bared a fang. "And what makes you think I have—" Suddenly, a brown little square was tossed over the roof by an exasperated vampire. Against her better judgment, Seras pouted up at him. "You know, you are supposed to be on my side."

Carlisle lifted an eyebrow, which instantly put Seras on guard. "I am," he said. "I'm actively looking out for your well being, which includes your moral and social attributes. Those, my dear, sorely need assistance."

"I don't need help," Seras protested. "I know how to behave—ow!"

Carlisle grabbed an ear and Seras once again found herself doubled over for the second time that day.

Takashi snorted. "I'm guessin' this is goanna to be a constant thing."

Belled looked up and nodded. "I suppose so. It was an illusion wasn't it?"

The wolf looked down at her. "Huh?"

"The phone."

"Oh… yeah," Takashi grimaced crossing his arms. "She knows better than to mess with that. It's her one ticket to—"

"Takashi!" Seras snapped attempting to turn toward them in spite of Carlisle's grip. "Can it!"

"Keh! I would worry about myself for right now." The wolf grunted and moved to leave, his nose twitching. He could smell chicken. Under his seal, a bushy tail wagged slightly. He wondered if Esme's poultry was just as good as her venison. He smiled and looked up. "When you two are done, come find me. We need to talk about tonight."

Seras grunted watching him from semi-squinted eyes.

Bella ran after him. "But how did she do it? When did the switch occur?"

Takashi sneered opening the door for the little—he lifted a lip and rolled his eyes. "I've learned over the years to stop trying to figure that out." He let her walk in before him. "She learned how to pickpocket from her brother and all those illusions from a ninja. They're secrets she'll take to her grave."

Bella's eyes lit up. "She knew a ninja—wait. She has a brother?"

"God, you're nosy!"

"Takashi!"

He growled softly. "Yeah yeah, I know." He yelled back, "I'll play nice."

The door closed and Seras' gaze shifted from the ground to the golden irises that had yet to lose their sternness. She bit her lip and slowly felt her ear release from his frigid grasp. She rubbed it silently. While Carlisle crossed his arms, he let out a breath. "Seras," he began, "we need to talk."

"Oh! Do you smell that?!" Seras exclaimed suddenly. "I think it's chicken. You didn't say that Esme was making chicken—"

"You're right. I didn't—"

"I bet it's better than her beef!"

Carlisle sighed realizing the evasive maneuver for what it was. Abruptly, he made a decision. He may be patient by nature but he knew stubborn, could be stubborn when he wanted to be. In a flash, he moved.

Seras blinked and found herself cradled in the air dangling between two unnaturally strong vampire arms and a shoulder that was warmer than she'd expected. Seras swallowed and blushed. She sputtered. "W-what are you doing?" She raised a hand to push him away. She was only able to move far enough to look up at him.

He just stared at her, his eyes caressing her hair, her skin, her golden irises. Then subtly, a soft smile spread across his face illuminating it brighter than the sun did his skin. "You may be right," he agreed, "her chicken may be even better than her sliced up cow. You'll just have to try some and find out." Suddenly, he crouched preparing to jump to the ground with her still in his arms.

Seras squirmed. "I guess I should, but you know you don't…" She tried to move her arms and legs meaning to roll out of his grasp. However, she only managed to tangle herself in her own limbs. Her blush deepened to near scalding.

Carlisle chuckled.

"I can get there on my own."

"I know you can."

"Then why?"

Carlisle looked down at her with a quizzical expression. "You didn't have a problem with me carrying you everywhere when you were dragon."

"Well," Seras grunted finally stilling. "That was when you thought I was some dumb animal. I was humoring you."

"I never thought you were dumb." He spoke softly leaning close, whispering his words against her temple. He barely kept from kissing it.

Seras stammered and tried to back up unsuccessfully.

Carlisle just laughed. "Then, you're just going to have to keep humoring you're old man for right now."

She all but glared. "You're not my father," she growled.

Carlisle looked down at her and lifted an eyebrow. "You are correct. I didn't say that I was."

Her glare deepened. "No, but you implied—ah!"

Carlisle abruptly jumped bringing Seras along with him. Chuckling at her expression, he dumped her on her feet then walked to the door. Seras yelled after him (after fixing her hair). He opened the door and looked back at her. "All I did was call myself old, which isn't an inaccurate statement. I am 300."

Seras marched up to him meeting his eye. Since he too was slightly taller than her, she popped on her toes. It was somewhat difficult given the fact that having her hands on her hips made balancing a little trying. "That's not what you meant," she grumbled softly.

"Oh? And what did I mean? Do you want to talk about it?" Carlisle lifted an eyebrow unfazed by her closeness.

Seras narrowed her eyes and retreated a step back, falling clumsily upon her heels. If she was dragon, Carlisle already knew what she would look like. He'd seen it the day he first manipulated her into staying in the house when she was sick. Her ears flattened. Her tail weaving, her smoke probably billowing, she was thinking, calculating. It was a game and he made the first move. Seras recognized it for what it was and huffed. _You will lose_, she told him in his mind.

Carlisle subtly smiled before watching her stalk down the hall towards his kitchen. He closed the door knowing that he wouldn't. As Emmett mentioned the night prior, he was known for getting his way. He knew stubborn when he saw it. He invented it.

* * *

The forest was thick, wild and murky like the fog that encompassed the trees. The moist opaque cloud consumed the grass, ate the flowers and their beds making it hard to determine a bud from a weed, even for the well-trained eye of a hanyou. It did absolutely nothing for his scent of smell. The night was dark, the land cold and rocky. He lifted a hand to wipe his nose while his other continued to pluck and pilfer, weed through the grasses trying to unearth that one herb, that one plant she said she desperately needed. Repunzel, aloe, sage: the list went on, continued to get longer. Still, he continued to pilfer, to filter and deprive the forest of its life for her. As always, it was always for her.

For the first time in two weeks, his room was quiet. The records weren't playing. The CDs didn't revolve neither did his cassettes or eight track tapes, not that he used those anymore. He just kept them for nostalgic reasons, compulsive reasons. He figured as long as they had a place, that they were neat and housed perfectly so as not to be a bother, the compulsion wasn't a problem. It was something he thought about periodically, occasionally, but not today, tonight emerging from today.

Today, he paced. He walked waiting. He looked at the door, the couch, the window. He had been waiting all day, all week, half the month for her to say something—do something. She hadn't until now. Today. It had to be today. He was nervous.

And then she appeared.

She was different than when he first saw her, wrapped in white, in red doused in the blood of demons. Silent. Confident. Hard. Well, in that light, she hadn't changed. She was still hard, still confident. But for the first time since he'd met her, her focus was no longer on him but on something else. Her eye no longer strayed towards his, towards him like it did that day at the market, the day he abandoned everything to follow her.

Into a pocket in his sleeve, the hanyou inserted fingers that caressed and played, manipulated a small pouch before pulling it out from under the careful stare of hollow dark eyes, eyes hidden beneath a mask, beneath fur and feathers he wasn't allowed to touch. He gritted his teeth and placed the velvet sack, the herbs of various names, into long clawed hands. Then, he bowed waiting for the figure to rise and leave, for the command he knew was coming.

"Repunzel. I need more."

Inuyasha sighed and rolled a shoulder. "I will search," he said. Only for a moment did the form turn to regard her red clothed knight, the dog who had followed her home. He left through the cave's entrance with the memory of fur and feathers, mud, tears and blood to stain his mind. She stayed behind, her mind cloaked like her body, empty of everything except for her heart.

Alone, the figure walked towards the back of the cave, towards the light that wavered in the darkness. At its zenith, she paused and stared. She waited while her heart soared. It swelled as a handsome face turned towards her. His sickly body breathed shallowly even as thin hands rose to adjust the cloth covering his eyes, tangling in raven dark hair. "You have returned," the man spoke.

Under the mask, the figure smiled though she knew he couldn't see it. "I told you, I wouldn't be long. Here, let me help you."

Edward swallowed staring at the dragon blocking his door. She was different than she was the first time he'd seen her, different than what she portrayed for the others to see. Dressed in black, cloaked from shoulders to heel in Asian silk, in black gauze bandages that covered the scars on her hands, wrists and forearms, it seemed like the darkness of the room gravitated towards her, crowned her like her hair billowing in the breeze. It made her eyes glow unearthly from under her bangs.

Subconsciously, instinctively, he took a step back. He bit his lip keeping himself from speaking. He didn't want to admit that a part of him recognized the danger that just waltzed through his door. He hadn't heard her enter.

Seras watched him a moment, a second, a minute before her head tilted. It was a silent gesture, a predatory one he instantly recognized. She took a step and then another until she was standing before his shelves, her fingers silently running along the edges of his records, his cassettes, his CDs, his—

He stepped away insuring to keep at least two feet between them, but then he halted. Her voice stopped him.

"You are afraid of me," she observed. "I find it a curious thing taking into account how you like to provoke me in front of your family. Why is that?" Slowly, she pulled a CD from his shelf and snapped it open. Taking out the silver disc, she meandered to the stereo sliding it in casually. She played Debussy unlike Jasper—wait that wasn't…

"You play this song a lot. I've heard you." She looked back at him with curious eyes, narrowed eyes.

He licked his lips. "It's Bella's song, a-a lullaby." He inched towards the door. Seras watched him silently. "I wrote it for her when we were first dating."

"Hmm…" She abandoned the shelves dropping the forgotten case. "It's a gorgeous piece. Ever thought of selling it?"

Edward quickly backed away astonished that his anger hadn't kicked in, his own protective instinct. His back hit a corner. She stepped towards him and stopped just two feet away. "I don't see what you are getting at," he said through clenched teeth. "I know what you want." There. There it was, the anger, the suspicion.

Seras sighed hearing the song begin to build. "I guess we shouldn't hold this off any longer." Instantly, he found himself flung upon his couch with a very still, very dangerous dragon hovering over him, pinning him to the milk white cushions painted blue in the hazy twilight. Her hair curtained around him. Her eyes, hard, skinned him alive but instead of cowering, he merely fisted her gi and tugged her closer. He growled and she—

She just smiled. Slowly, she lowered her head and rubbed her cheek along his.

Edward gaped. His breathing turned erratic. If he had a heart, it would have been beating, fluttering rapidly in the wake of her calmness.

Seras stilled, her lips resting by his ear. She opened steely golden eyes. "You have something that belongs to me and in a few moments," she lifted her head to repeat the action to his other cheek, her hot tan skin grazing his cold stone jaw. She paused. Her tail snaked somewhere beneath her seal. "In a few moments, I will take something from you."

Angered, Edward used his strength to try to rise, to push her off of him, but he only managed to get himself re-slammed into the couch. "You will not—"

"I will not hurt your Sire, Fledgling." She purred softly glaring into his topaz gaze. "But I know how your kind think and so I come to you with a preposition." She cupped his jaw ensuring that he wouldn't break eye contact. "Would you hear me out?"

Edward just watched her before expelling an exasperated breath through his nose. "You-you don't want the ring?" he guessed. He whispered in disbelief. Jasper? Did he see this?

Seras leaned back and looked at him. Lifting the hand cupping his jaw, she ran it through his hair. Her expression was unreadable. He stuttered. "So, it's true. You—"

"Yes, I want you to keep it," she admitted. "As a safety blanket. Collateral, if you will." Her eyes hooded. "Until I return your Sire back to you. Would that assuage your fears for the time being?" She tilted her head.

Edward sneered. "It mustn't be important if you are so willing—"

"Anything of youkai origin is important and priceless in its own right. Do we have a deal or not?" Seras narrowed her eyes. Her jaw tightened. "I will take him with me and once I have established the possibility of finding lodging with the wolves, I will then return with him where you will be able to evaluate him and restore my earring. It's not a difficult exchange."

Edward just glared at her in silence.

Seras tilted her head. "Do we have a deal?"

"And what about you?" he asked after a moment. "What do you get out of this?"

Seras reclined back, making room for him to sit up. _Peace of mind_, she thought. And a slice of freedom, but he didn't need to know that. Instead, she looked away. "This is less about me as it is about you." She eyed him while Edward rose to his elbows.

He crinkled his nose. "Would you alter the terms?" he asked suddenly. His burning, nagging, raging curiosity pushed him forward. She narrowed her eyes. She knew what he wanted.

"You telepaths are such a nosey lot." She commented thinking of another vampire, another telepath. _Now I know how Takashi feels. _She rolled her eyes and stood crossing her arms. The action made her gi flare, her wings twitch as they folded along her shoulders. In the darkness, Edward could see them. They barely covered the yin-yang etched delicately between their curtained pleats. She lowered her head upon her hand, her hair falling to cover it completely. She paused then turned, her hand descending to her side. "The answer is no, however—"

"Then my answer—"

"My memories are my own!" she snapped. "They are mine to carry and someone as lowly as you is not worthy nor needed to help me bare the breadth of them."

Edward couldn't help but cough at the sudden flare of heat surrounding him. The reaction was involuntary, unlike everything else. He was allergic to heat. They all were.

"However."

He stilled.

She sighed and stepped away. "I will answer one question. Will that satisfy you?"


	6. Chapter Forty Six: Into Misperceptions

"One question." Edward blinked wringing his hands. He pushed to his feet. "Any question?"

She nodded. "As honestly as I can though it is not in my nature to be so."

"As you can," Edward mumbled. "Do you promise?"

* * *

**Ascension Vol. II**

**Chapter Forty Six**

**Into Misperceptions**

* * *

"One question." Edward leaned forward wringing his hands. He rushed to his feet propelled by curiosity and necessity, a frown smearing thickly across his face. It was like finding a stray fingerprint on a murder weapon. He could barely quell his anticipation let alone speak. Still, he tried. He pressed. "Any question?" he asked.

He squinted noting the way her spine straightened, the way she lifted a proud and stubborn chin. Even in the darkness, he could see her resolve strengthen, stiffening her shoulders, hardening her eyes. The dragon nodded and immediately he knew it was the truth. A list upon list formed in his mind. Questions begat questions, inquiry after inquiry, it was longer than the list he had for Bella. Edward rubbed the back of his neck. He paced, then stepped away as he appraised the priority of each one, tossing some, second guessing others. There were too many.

"Son?"

_Carlisle._ He looked towards the door. His father's voice rose from a midst the closing notes of the lullaby dancing around them. It pushed him. He didn't have time. Swallowing the venom that pooled in his mouth, the boy spoke. "You will answer it completely?"

"As completely as I can."

"And honestly?"

Once again, the dragon nodded. Her eyes followed him as he slinked through the room, pacing before his shelves, pushing pass his couch, the window and queen size bed tucked neatly in a corner. The song repeated. "As honestly as I can, though it is not in my nature to do so."

"As you can," Edward muttered. "Do you promise?" He paused. He stared.

She met his gaze evenly. The music played on barely covering Carlisle's voice as it ghosted up from the first floor. "Ask your question," she said calmly. She offered nothing else.

Edward sucked in a breath. Three questions—no two. He narrowed them down allowing only one to fall from his lips, the most pressing, the most relevant. "How do we kill you?"

The dragon stood silent a moment before slowly she dipped her head into a perplexed tilt. "My death?" she whispered. "This is the second time you have called for it."

"I do not call for it," Edward growled. "I'm only covering my bases, demon."

Instantly, Seras moved circling him like smoke a fire, a snake its charmer. He followed her easily as she stepped into his personal space placing a hand along his jaw. These little touches confused him. She never touched any of them so willingly, so openly. Not even with the doctor did she do this. Why him? He wanted to push her off, but instead he stilled. It was something in her eyes. Their golden depths seemed to call to his heart, urging his mind to listen.

"I gave you my word and I will speak," she said softly ignoring the call of her name from the second floor. "It's not a matter of how I die that will kill me. It's who. And you, vampire, are not that person." She lowered her hand. "I am a cursed being. Many are drawn to love me, but I only have one mate with whom I will never join. Many are drawn to possess me and imprison me, but there is only one to whom I will ever truly call master. One master. One mate. Their fates should also determine my own. However, this is not to be for there is only one man born with the ability and resolve to kill my body, and even he will never accomplish that feat. Not even my greatest enemy has the power to do this. There is only one reason why."

Edward's eyes were wide as he stared down at her, as he stared up into the darkness that was in her heart. "And what is that?" he asked.

"The answer is simple. There is already one who holds claim to my soul. He will drag me to hell on his own time and it is he who is destined to hold claim to my defeat. He is not of this world and you do not have the power to take his claim from his hand." Here, she looked away. She stepped back, her heart closing with the action. "No one does. Only one had the ability and he no longer walks this earth. You humans killed him a little over 200 years ago and with him died whatever hope I had of escaping my fate."

Again, she stepped away trying to resist the urge to wrap her arms around her body, to hide from the fact that her fate loomed so very near. She was stronger than her fear and so she did not cower, but still she trembled in her heart, in the secret place where it resided. Only a select few knew of the fate to which she would succumb and now there was another, a blind and partial member.

Edward's heart raced in light of the revelation he just received. Still, that didn't keep him from gritting his teeth, killing his empathy and burying his pity. "You—" he stuttered. "Your sob story doesn't answer my question. How do we defeat you?"

Seras glared and retreated once more. "You asked your question and I answered it."

"But it wasn't what I wanted to know," he snapped. "How do I keep you from attacking my family? I'm not stupid enough to believe that you won't—"

"You think I would turn my back on someone who—"

"What is going on up here?!" A voice cut through the wave of arguing. Its tone hard and jagged clashed with the elegant tones of the lullaby fluttering in the air.

Edward froze. Instinctively, he stiffened turning to see his father standing in the door way, his eyes popped in stern suspicion. The boy frowned. He shoved his hands in his pockets while purposely, secretly, he slipped the ring inside for Seras to see, the ring that was not a ring. "Nothing," he muttered softly. He glared at her, his eyes mirroring those that glinted sharply behind him. "Our business is done."

Seras inhaled. Seconds dragged on slow and stubborn before her fangs peaked angrily from between her lips. She attempted to stalk to the door, to push past a frustrated Carlisle with nothing but a huff and stiff shoulders, but—there it was, the "but", the exception that was always constant with ever faithful Dr. Cullen. The doctor restrained her easily grabbing her arm and pulling her back. Grumbling something fierce and purposely unintelligible, it took all of her self-control not to rip away from him.

For a moment, he looked between the two before he spoke. "I am only going to say this once," the doctor stated. "This is your only warning. Whatever beef that is between you, you better can it because the next time I see you fighting there will be consequences. Do you understand me?"

Edward jerked a nod then shuffled further into the room, but the dragon, she merely sneered. "I guess it's a good thing I'm leaving," she grunted. Angrily, she endeavored to break away from Carlisle's grasp, but to her chagrin, it only tightened further. His fist was practically a vice. Before she could open her mouth, his growl broke through his lips effectively silencing the entire house, let alone the room. Somewhere, the song started again. He jerked her closer.

"Am I clear?" Carlisle repeated.

Seras jutted a lip. Breaking eye contact, she silently nodded then stormed out of the room once the doctor released his rigid, iron tight grasp from her bicep. Carlisle watched her a moment then snorted, an action that was quickly becoming a habit. He didn't like it. Running a hand through his hair, the doctor looked at his son then nodded firmly towards the stairs, the blonde strands falling evenly behind his ears. "Tell your mother we will be down in a moment." It wasn't a suggestion.

Edward knew this all too well, and so he wisely obeyed him but not without a hint of defiance. Silently, he descended the stairs stalking down each step one at a time, two at a time. His father watched his every movement ignorant of the fingers that flipped metal and heat, spinning it intricately like the melody repeating in his mind. Plotting, figuring, waiting, he made a decision.

* * *

"When you say that was the first of the last two times, do you mean him jumping into the well?" The cat's eyes narrowed in both confusion and fascination. Yet, smeared over those overwhelming emotions was a heavy dose of cold indifference. The monk knew better though. The spark was there, but he wisely didn't acknowledge it.

He shook his head. "No, I mean vanish, leave without a trace. Well…" The monk dipped his head in a knowing gesture. "That's not quite true. It wasn't like he hadn't showed the potential previously. I'm sure Sesshomaru wasn't completely unaware of the situation."

"The situation over what?" Makoto asked. He was even more confused.

"The situation between his brother and the two mikos he fell in love with." The old monk chuckled at the confounded look on the demon's face. But when it only earned him a glare and a non-too-friendly growl from the hot-headed wolf by his side, Miroku quickly swallowed his laughter and strove to explain. He shifted to get more comfortable. "This story will take a while to tell."

* * *

Walking down the hall, watching the girl loiter by the door to his library, Carlisle couldn't help but let his frustration from the moment prior well up in his throat. Yet, even as she turned towards him, even as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the key that would metaphorically open the door to her departure, Carlisle purposely allowed his anger and frustration to settle and fall away. Their time was waning. His time was running out. The future had yet to be seen and tonight it would rise like a hungry lion preparing to unveil an unknown history. It could easily end with a war and his death. Of this, he wasn't ignorant. The doctor with his fate blurring somewhere in the murky glades of his mind strove to the door, inserted the key, and pushed. It was quiet downstairs and the silence on the upper floors was nothing short of deafening. In the hallway, they stood together then slowly, the door jerked open and by his beset, the dragon entered before him. She didn't look at him, whether if it was from guilt or sadness he didn't know. He only lowered his shoulders and stepped in behind her. They felt heavy today, at least more than usual. It was all he could think about.

Seras moved to the long locked chest, which held his weapons and her own. Though his footsteps shadowed hers, stopping only to stand by her side, she didn't react. Her face was still and hard, an impenetrable wall closed off to the world, shielding her thoughts from it and his discernment. He couldn't read them. Letting an unnecessary breath fall from his lips, Carlisle put the second key in the lock and twisted it. The mechanism clicked. The dragon bit her lip, the lid rose and she reached in taking hold of the braided pummel, the handle of her first sword. The silver blade was retrieved first, not the black one. That was done on purpose, just like what happened next.

With Seras, there was always a reason and rarely was it ever communicated. He should have realized that, should have anticipated it. Instead when she reached for her second sword, securing the first in its place along her lower back, Carlisle just saw the present, the ever nearing future. His hand immediately descended to intercept her path. Gently, his fingers, cold and concerned, engulfed her hand caressing her knuckles tenderly as though they would vanish. He swallowed. They _would_ vanish and so he memorized. She looked down only for a moment watching his fingers stroke her hand slowly before taking a breath, moving to possess her second sword. She lifted it, exhaled then looked up at the man, the doctor, the patriarch, her…

Her…

Her eyebrows crumpled furrowing slightly. His folded in return.

A minute passed, a second then her free hand rose. Her fingers lifted to caress his cheek as his gaze softened, his mind blurring with worry. He watched her step forward.

"You don't have to do this," she whispered.

"I know," Carlisle replied, "but I want to. It'd like to see this to the end." It was his answer, had been his answer since he'd first decided to tag along. In spite his residual fear, that thought hadn't wavered. Not yet.

Again, Seras exhaled. "I can't persuade you otherwise?" He didn't have to respond. He could tell she knew what he would say for almost instantly her eyes lowered and her hand fell away.

Grumbling slightly, the dragon shoved her second sword in with its brother before looking up at him. She crossed her arms and tilted her head.

He put his hands in his pockets. "Are you worried?"

"About what?"

He shrugged. "The wolves, what the chief will say, what happens after?"

Seras lowered her arms and shook her head. "No, at least not about the humans or the wolves—the human wolves," she corrected thinking about pigtails, markings and warnings. She narrowed her eyes. All angles needed to be covered. All sides defended. Again, she tilted her head. "Would you…" she trailed off.

Carlisle shifted his weight watching her fidget subtly before him. "Would I what?"

"Can you?" Again, she reached forward to touch his cheek. This was harder than she thought.

The doctor heard her heart begin to race and curiously stilled his movements. His eyebrows lowered. "Seras, this is—" He stopped. Her cheek caressed his own. He gaped and she brushed his other cheek just as hastily, just as clumsily. He could feel her scales, the bordering hot breath that puffed across the side of his face, through his hair tickling an ice frosted ear. And then it was gone. The dragon retreated and walked towards the door. He blinked before snapping back to reality. Quickly, he followed suit locking it behind him.

"Hey, what was that?" he asked slightly confused.

"What was what?" she evaded.

The doctor sighed moving to match her steps. He stopped her with a calm arm around her shoulders. For a moment, he looked down at her and instantly she looked away, a blush threatening to spread across her cheeks. "Seras?" She swallowed. Realizing that the awkwardness wouldn't settle, Carlisle did only what came natural, completely misinterpreting the gesture. Her blush deepened significantly when he leaned in and kissed her cheek. He merely shrugged and walked away. _Maybe, she'll explain later_.

Seras sputtered and stared watching his back turn the corner. He put his keys in his pocket. "If you keep stalling, I'll leave you." He yelled over his shoulder.

Seras only glared and wiped her cheek with a highly annoyed hand. "As if," she grumbled. She ran after him.

* * *

**Ascension**

**Chapter: Forty-Seven**

**Into Departures and Commands**

"Here she is!"

Takashi sneered and leaned in closer, "You practically—" He stopped and sniffed smelling cotton, smelling smoke, sage, and sober regret, a hint of sadness. He jerked back, his blue-black eyebrows soaring into his bangs. "You… you don't want to leave?"

She huffed, "I'm leaving aren't I?"

"My father," she began her voice uttering her words carefully, not carelessly, deeply but not too deeply, "told me that if ever I found my back pressed against the wall that I would be able to find help in the basement of this mansion, a secret weapon belonging to my family. That weapon was you." She stopped. His eyes never left hers. "I have always wondered. Are you the only secret my family has ever kept?"

"Do you know her?"

* * *

**Edward, Edward, Edward...** **Apparently, Seras doesn't want the earring. I wonder why?**

**The next chapter is the ending of the introduction to this book and begins the Kouga Arc of the Inuyasha Arc. Lots happen. Stay tuned and remember small details are important. **

**Any questions?**

**Calla**


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